Tool checking equipment and method of using the same



Oct. 4, 1938. H. H. MILLER TOOL CHECKING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME Filed April 5, 1937 I5 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. H. MILLER Get. 4, 1938.

TOOL CHECKING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME Filed April 5, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 OCfiL, 41-, 1938. H MlLLER 2,132,079

TOOL CHECKING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME Filed April 5, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE] TooL CHECKING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD or USING THE SAME This invention relates to tool checking equipment and tea method of using the same.

An object of the invention is to provide efiicient means for handling and lending tools whereby an accurate check can be kept upon all tools, etc., withdrawn from the tool room, thereby elinn inating loss of tools, and also reducing, to the minimum, the time required to apply for and be supplied with the desired tools. A still further object is to provide means by which a tool roomattendant can quickly ascertain what tools are missing and by who-m they were withdrawn.

A further object is to include means by which any withdrawn tool can be restored to the proper bin or other container withoutrequiring any guess work on the part of the tool room attendant.

With the foregoing and other objects. inyiew which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts and in certain steps of the method hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in {:5 the construction and arrangement of parts and in the disclosed method without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings one form of equipment has been illustrated but it is to be understood that this equipment may be modified to suit different conditions under which it is used.

, In said drawings Figure l is a horizontal section through'a portion of a tool room provided with the present equipment.

Figure 2 is an elevation of a tool crib which can form a part of the equipment.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3, Figure 2. Figure 4 is an enlarged sectionon line 4-4, 10 Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5, Figure'4. Figure 6 is a front elevation of one unit of the control board, parts being broken away. Figure 7 is a side elevation thereof. Figure 8 is a section on line 88, Figure 6. Figure 9 is a slip feeder shown in plan on an enlarged scale.

Figure 10 is a section on line l 0- 18, Figure 9. Figure 11 is an elevation of atool and showing if) its identifying mark. a

In order that the present equipment may be utilized as an efiicient means for keeping an accurate check upon tools and the like it is essential that there be used a .control board, a means, '55 such as a tool crib, for holding tools of different kinds and sizes, a means for supplying'application slips or checks to the user, and an arrangement of identifying checks for cooperation with the control board and the crib to facilitate location of a withdrawn item. This equipment is to 5 be set up within and adjacent to the usual tool room which has been indicated generally at I in Figure 1. Within this tool room are located cribs or other suitable containers for tools and the like to be withdrawn from time to time. One. of 19 these cribs has been indicated at land, in the structure shown, is divided by vertical and horizontal partitions, into rows of separate compartments 3. Extending forwardly from the crib below each compartment 3 is a hook 4 for support- )5 ing a series of metal checks 5 each of which bears a number corresponding with the number of the compartment with which they are associated. ()ne of these checks can be fastened to the front of the compartment as indicated at B so as not to be removable with the others. Thus it consti-, tutes a means for identifying the compartment by number.

Long experience in the control of tools in production plants has disclosed the fact that apas proximately eighty-five percent ofall the tools or equipment checked .out of a tool room needs nothing more than a recordof the person receiving the tool or other piece, in order to maintain a check on the withdrawal. The remaining fif- Q teen percent of the miscellaneous tools, etc., comes within classifications that warrant-a back check control in order that the person using these items can be located at any time. .Within this fifteen percent are tools suchas drilling ma- 35 chines and auxiliary devices, measuring devices, including all types of special gauges, micrometers, calipers, etc., special taps, dies, drills, or in other words-all tools for which there might be a demand while it is in use. It-has been found that this Alb fifteen percent of tools can be divided into from three to five classifications and with this idea in mind the present method of checking tools and the likeutilizes a .check for each classification. Each check has a number representing the par, 4;; ticular compartment 3 provided for the tool and the checks of each classification are of a design distinguishing them from thephecks ,of each of the other classifications. Thus it will be noted, by referring to Figure 2, that-square checks, bearing the compartment numbers, can be supported in front of the compartments containing tools or the like of one classification, substantially tri: angular checks can be supported in front of compartments containing tools of another classi: g5

fication, round checks can be arranged in front of compartments containing tools of a third classification, etc. In every instance the checks supported in front of each compartment bear the same identifying number as that appearing on that compartment.

It is not necessary to designate all compartments by checks. For example and as shown at the upper portion of Figure 2,-additional compartments can be arranged in superposed rows and vertical columns, the columns being designated by letters or other characters while the superposed rows can be designated 'by numerals. Thus a tool or the like stored in compartment D in row 1 can be identified as D'l.

A window 1 opens into the tool room I- and at.

any suitable point in the tool. room but preferably adjacent to this window, th'ereislocated a control board 8 which has been shown in detail in plate ll, there being any suitable means, such as spacing sleeve lZ-on bolts It], for holding the two plates properly spaced apart. This construction not only prevents accumulation of dust and dirt and ultimate clogging of the openings but also allows for the construction of a control board of any desired thickness, the thickness being varied by using spacing sleeves, 24 longer or shorter than those illustrated. Thus the board is adapted forusewith slips of different lengths when used therewith ash'ereinafter explained.

The front plate is preferably divided into four vertical columns bymeans of dividing lines I3 and in each of these columns can be located four vertical rows of circular openings M, the open ings in each row being uniformly spaced so that the corresponding openings in all of the rows will be arranged in horizontal alinement across the front plate. In practice it has been found desirable to use twenty-five openings in each" vertical row'so that each column thus contains one hundred openings; The openings in each vertical column are numbered consecutively from top to bottom and where four rows of twenty-five holes are used, the first row will be numbered from one to twenty-five, the second row'from twenty-six to fifty, the third row from fifty-one toseventy-five, and the fourthrow from'seventy-six to one hundred. No heading need be provided for the first column but above, the secondcolumn there is arranged the numeral 10,0 while the third and fourthcolumn's are designated by the numerals 200 and 30 05" respectively. Thus any one of the four hundred holes contained within the front plate II can be located readily. Where more than four hundred holes are to be used in the equipment, another unit like that shownin Fig ure 6. can be placed beside, the first unit and the columns thereon whichwill be the same as those showninthe illustrated unit, can be provided with designated headings such as 400; 500 FBOO? and 9700. Thus the control board isfiexible to adapt it to a production plant of any size. 1 Extendinglforwardly from the plate ll below each of the openings I4 is a hook l5.

' Suitably located outside of the tool room is a deskjfi forsupporting a paper strip I! as it is unwound from a'roll 18 arranged within a housing I 9. Afpresser roll 20 can bear downwardly on the strip l l andpinch it against a feed roll 2| designed to be operated. in any suitable manner, as by.

means of a crank arm 22 or the ck A tearin edge 23 can be located across the top of strip l I where it emerges from the housing I9 and displayed on the desk at proper points adjacent to the path of the paper strip I! are suitable captions such as Man No., Name, Tool wanted, and Date. they will indicate to a person where the designated information is to be placed on the adjacent slip or strip of paper when pulled out onto the desk.

When a person desires to withdraw a tool he approaches the desk l6 and by rotating the roll :ZI; causes a length of paper to issue from the housing l9.

date, the'name of the workman and the tool or The number of the workman, the

tools desired are then all written on this exposed portion of the paper strip after which it is torn off along the edge 23 and presented through the window 1 to the attendant within the tool room;

Theattendant, who is well acquainted with the positions of the various tools, promptly locates the desired article." As'he withdraws each article from its compartment, he also removes one of the checks suspended in front of that compartment and which bears the distinctive number of the compartment. The requested tools are then presented to theworkman after which the slip of paper is rolled into a small cylinder or cartridge as shown at 24 and inserted into the opening in the control board which is designated by the number of the particularperson who has withdrawn the tools. For example if'the number of thefmechanic is 3, the rolled paper slip will be placed in opening 3. The attendant also hangs upon the hook beneath said opening the tags which he removed from in front of the compartments from which'th'e tools were taken. If these tags are of different classifications. they will all be Visible one in front of the other because of their different shapes.

After the tools have been taken away. there is always a record in the tool room whereby these tools can be located. For example let it be as sumed th'at a request is made for a tool which is not located in its particular compartment. The

tool room attendant looks over the control board for a tag corresponding in shape with the one belonging to the particular compartment from which the tool has been removed. When the proper check is found suspended on the control board. the attendant withdraws the paper slip from the opening thereabove and ascertains therefrom the name of the person who has the tool. This information can then be transmitted to the applicant. At the end of the day each tool is turned in through the window. I and in exchange therefor the slip identified by the number of the workman, is withdrawn from the opening M in which it is located and returned to the workmlan as' his It is to .beunderstood of. course that when the slips are removed from the control board the checks are also removed and are returned to the books 4 from which they were removed. Thus after the last man has turned in. the tools which had been withdrawn; an inspection of the control board will instantly disclose what workmen have not returned tools. This will be indicated by the These captions are positioned where A tool thus marked has been illustrated in r slips remaining in the control board and the checks suspended thereunder. If the tools are not returned within a time limit which has been set, the names of the workmen will be posted adjacent to the desk 16 as a reminder and, should this notice fail to bring the desired results, notifications can be sent to foremen or others under whom the workmen are employed.

While it has been found desirable to employ 10 checks of different shapes, it is to be understood HARRY HARRISON MILLER. 10 

